Lori Adams/Botanical Photographs

Lori Adams !

Small Things

Tall Things

Dead Things Red Things

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botanical

photographs dec 12, 2015-jan 10, 2016

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TheoGanz Studio Beacon, NY

Lori Adams/Artist Statement What I have found doing botanical photography is that there is beauty in death as well as life. There is elegance and fluidity in decomposing plant specimens that is as temporal and beautiful as when they were living. Definitely, the leftover bits of physicality of plant specimens can be a source of mystery and wonder worth exploration and documentation.

I am looking for surprises, asking questions, exploring small and finding pleasure in blossoms at their peak as well as spent leaves, fallen seed pods, dried up stalks and stems. I do this using photography with intense light, super sharp lenses, multiple angles, varied color combinations and years of compositional practice.

Over the years I have photographed hundreds of living, colorful flowers and trees trying to appreciate and preserve their beauty and although I have often been successful in creating an image in a medium that can stop time, it has not been enough. In not wanting to let go and not knowing how to say goodbye to these living objects that have provided me with visual, spiritual and intellectual pleasure (as well as professional and often financial benefit) I have kept or collected many of them past their

prime. Dead plants populate my studio, seed pods are preserved in Ziploc bags, pocket and pouches get filled with remnants and clear, recycled containers are new attempts to catalog this clutter.

Because of this I have been able to observe changed shapes and colors in death and suspended decomposition in addition to budding and blooming life. These specimens have become a source for re-examination and new exploration. Perhaps I can document methods of reverse life. Perhaps I will observe patterns used to disseminate seeds and/or to ensure species survival.

Exhibiting just the photographs is also not enough. I believe there is the “doubting Thomas” in us all and that in order to share their beauty and secrets it is critical to see the original objects alongside the enlarged photographs.

Therefore there is “show-and-tell” as the little things go on display and I share my many little models and muses.

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Lori Adams is a commercial and fine art photographer based in East Fishkill, New York. Her other interests include gardening as well as light-writing photography. She has studied art as well as science and math at Dutchess Community College, Bard College and the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is an experienced teacher of photography and the author of two science + art books, Little Flowers with Big Attitude and Timeless Triops, and most recently, a contributor to Terrariums - Gardens Under Glass.

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All photographs copyright Lori Adams ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

TheoGanz Studio 149 Main Street

Beacon, NY 12508